City of West Frankfort City Council met Jan. 13.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
1. Mayor Arview Called The Meeting To Order At 6:00 P.M.
Requesting A Roll Call. All Commissioners Were In Attendance Including, The City Attorney And City Clerk.
2. Mayor Arview Asked For Approval Of The Agenda. The Mayor Stated I Don’t See Anything That Needs To Be Amended Or Changed On This Right Now. We May Table Some Things Later, But That’s Not Necessarily Something That We Need To Amend. I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve The Use Of This Agenda For This Meeting. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
3. The Next Item Was Minutes From The December 23, 2025 Regular Council Meeting. Commissioner Hoawrd Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
4. The Next Item Was Approval To Open Bids And Potentially Approve Ordinances Selling Real Estate At Hayes And Cherry Street. The Mayor Stated We Have Three Sealed Bids, I Will Open Them One At A Time.
1. Corey Ray Stubblefield. There’s A Check For $165.00 Bid Deposit; The Bid Is For $1,650.00.
2. Tina Rose, Bid Of $800.00, Bid Deposit Is A Money Order In Here For $80.00. The City Clerk Asked Is This For Cherry And Hayes? The Mayor Stated Yes. Actually, No It Is’nt. The City Attorney Stated, I Suspect It Was Intended For A Lot Of Lindell Street. It’s Not On The Agenda. So That Bid Will Have To Be Resubmitted If And When We Sale That Lot. 3. Let Me Make Sure This Is For The Right One. Well, It Says Its For 507 West 7th, And 411 North Park Hill. None Of These Are For Hayes And Cherry Either. Then The Only Bid That We Have For Hayes And Cherry Is From Corey Stubblefield For $1,650.00. The City Attorney Stated I Don’t Know If The Bidder Is Here, Mr. Stubblefield, But There Will Be An Easement That Will Be Reserved Where There’s A Current Gravel Road That The City Will Keep Using. And We’re Hoping That The County Will Let Us Record It With A Simple Description. If Not, Then It Won’t Be Our Decision. The County May Require A Survey, Which May Affect How Quickly We Get The Deal Closed. But That Was In The Notice, But I Just Want To Let You Know That When We Actually Go To Record The Deed, Sometimes The County Reserves Them And Wants Certain Language For Easements. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve The Bid From Corey Stubblefield, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
5. The Next Item Was Approval To Publish Notice Inviting Bids For The Sale Of Real Estate Lots Located On 303 And 305 East Poplar Street. Parcel #12-19-304-002 And 12-19-304-003 As Surplus Property In The City Of West Frankfort. Bids Are Due By February 24, 2026. The Mayor Stated Now, I Did Review The Minutes From Our Last Meeting When We Talked About This, And I Just Kind Of Asked The Council For Their Understanding Of This. The Way I Understood Was That We Wanted To Basically Take This Off Completely, That We Would Not Vote On It Again. That Was Where We Made The Motion About Indefinitely. Per Robert’s Rules Of Order, That Takes Effect At The End Of The Subsequent Meeting. In Other Words, At The End Of This Meeting, If We Continue To Have This Tabled, Then That Would Be The Case. I Assume The Intention There Is If Somebody Changed Their Mind. Commissioner Warren Stated So If You Table It, Then It Drops Off Completely, And We Can’t Talk About It Anymore? The Mayor Stated Right. At The End Of This Meeting, If We Table This And We Don’t Bring It Back Up At The End Of This Meeting, It’s Off Completely. I’m Open To However You Guys Want To Proceed, If You Want To Make A Motion To Approve Doing This, Or If You Want To Table It Again. Commissioner Howard Stated I’m Going To Make A Motion To Approve Inviting Bids For This Property. The Mayor Stated Before We Have A Second, We Can Discuss, If You Guys Want To. Commissioner Warren Stated I’m Just Going To Discuss, Because I Want Everything Out In The Open. Some People, Want To Keep It To Benefit The Wit Wisdom, As A Parking Lot, To Rock It, To Make A Parking Lot, For Them To Get In During Old King Coal Or Any Other Big Events They Might Have. I Guess Because They Have Issues With Parking. Although During Old King Coal Lasttime I Do Not Think There Were Any Issues. We Didn’t Have To Golf Cart Anyone Around. The Mayor Asked Did They Utilize The Lot? Commissioner Warren Stated They Did Not Utilize The Grass Lot. Commissioner Stanley Stated I Wasn’t Out There To See If They Were Using It Or Not, Were You, Michael? Were They Using That Lot Back There? Michael Stated The Old King Coal Staff Was, They Had A Lot Of Their Stage Equipment, And People That Were Working With The Concerts And Stuff. They Use That For Their Parking Behind The Stage Basically. They Set Up The Stage There, And On Poplar Street. They Used That Lot, So Some Of The Staff That Works For The Bands And Stuff Like That Has Room To Be There And Work On Stuff. The Mayor Stated And Then, Of Course, The Other Side Of That Argument Is That We’re Paying Real Estate Tax On Property That’s Potentially Used Once A Year. And I’m Not Saying That’s Wrong, I’m Just Saying That’s The Other Side Of The Argument. Commisisoner Stanley Stated We Spend Money On Other Things. The Mayor Stated Yes, We Do. Commissioner Howard Stated My Thought Process Is, If We Gravel This And We’re Going To Have People Park There And Walk Down To The Senior Citizens, If Somebody Trips Over All Them Cords That’s Out There In Old King Coal. Guess Who’s Going To Get Sued? The City, The Old King Coal Committee Commissioner Stanley Stated They Don’t Only Have The Cables Where They’re Walking Through, They Have Cables All Over That Whole Section Of Old King Coal. On The Intersection Of Poplar And Jefferson, They Got Cords Across. Commissioner Howard Stated I Don’t Think We Need The Liability Or The Expense Of It. Commissioner Warren Stated So Then You Have A Neighbor And You Halandlorve Some Business In Town Possibly Interested In That, So You Could Sell It, Make A Little Cut Off The Taxes For The City Commissioner Howard Stated Yeah, That’s The Other Thing. We’ve Got A Business That Indicated An Interest In Buying That And Putting Up A Warehouse Building On It, And That’s Going To Generate Money For The City Instead Of Paying Out Money All Of The Time. Commissioner Warren Stated But Yet We’re Not Wanting To Be Landlords. Because We Have Other Things To Do. The Mayor Stated Like I Mentioned Last Meeting, Though, Just Because We Agree To Do This Doesn’t Necessarily Mean We Have To Accept The Bids Either. If In The Meantime We Change Our Minds, We Have That Prerogative. Commissioner Harkins Stated Well, They Didn’t Use It Last Time. It Didn’t Come Into Play. Commissioner Stanley Stated They Didn’t Use It, But The Other People Used It. Commissioner Warren Asked Is There A Place For Those Other People That Used It To Go That You Know Of?
Commissioner Stanley Stated No, They’ve Got To Be Right By Their Stuff, By The Stage. Commissioner Howard Stated Just On The Other Side, Behind The Moose Or Something Over There Where That Building Was Torn Down, Those People Indicated They Could Use That Lot. Commissioner Warren Stated They’ve Said That Until They Build A Building, If They Got It By Chance, That We Could Use It. Commissioner Howard Made The Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve, Commissioner Stanley Voted No. Motion Carried.
Bids Will Be Due February 24, 2026, And There Will Be Signs In The Yard When They Are Up For Bids. That Is One Way To Know When A Property Is For Sale By The City. (After The Meeting We Realized Address Are Wrong But The Parcel Numbers Are Correct. The Address Are 305/307 E. Poplar & 309 E. Poplar)
6. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Authorizing The City Of West Frankfort To Ban The Selling Of Kratom In The City Of West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated I Discussed This With Our Deputy Police Chief And Looking At What Some Surrounding Cities Have Been Doing. It’s Dangerous. I Support Banning This. I Asked Jonathan To Write Up The Ordinance. But I Will Let One Of You Make The Motion, If You Want To, Approve This. Commissioner Warren Stated I Would Like For You To Describe What It Is, Because I Don’t Know What That Is. Deputy Chief Police Willis Stated It’s A Synthetic Type Of Drug Like Marijuana Or Like K2. And It’s Recently Been Sold. A Lot Of The Other Places Around Here Have Already Banned It Because They Had Problems With Their Juveniles. We’ve Had One Major Incident That We Had Involved With It. It Was Sold Here In Town To Some Juveniles, And They Went On A Burglary Spree. It’s Not That Our Area, Our Town, Is Extremely Affected At The Moment. But I Believe That It Would Be Better To Get Ahead Of It, Because Things Always Trickle. It’s The Way This Has Been Used And Sold Is The Problem. It’s Not Something That We’ve Really Had To Deal With A Whole Lot Here. The City Attorney Stated For The Council’s Benefit, The Ordinance Is Modeled After The City Of Marion’s. They Adopted It, And I Believe Johnston City, I Am Not Sure What Other Towns Have Adopted It. The Mayor Stated Harrisburg Also Has. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
7. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution To Hire Aaron Davis As Firefighter For The West Frankfort Fire Department. The Mayor Stated Per Council And Some Technical Issues With This, We Are Going To Table This Item Until The Next Meeting. Hopefully The Next Meeting We’ll Be Able To Do It, But Right Now We Need To Table It. This Item Was Tabled.
8. The Next Item Was Discussion With Possible Action Regarding A Change In Ownership Name Only For Pups 212 Bar And Approval To Update The Liquor And Gaming Licenses. The Mayor Stated Mr. Peebles Sold The Business, And The New Owners Actually Already Have A License, So We’re Just Changing The Name Of The Owner On Pups 212. They Would Still Retain That License. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
9. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Acumed Group Ems Management And Consultants In The Amount Of $2,906.44 For A Billing Service Fee From 11-1-25 To 11-30-25 For The West Frankfort Fire Department. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
10. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Motorola Solutions, Inc., In The Amount Of $2,439.45 For A Body Camera Annual License And Subscription For The West Frankfort Police Department. The Mayor Stated I Assume This Is Like The Software, The Service, For Them To Record And Monitor The Body Camera. Deputy Police Chief Willis Stated Each One Has To Be Licensed. The Actual Subscription Is Something We Have To Get For Our Redaction Phase When Anytime Something That Gets Foia’d And Anytime We Have To Redact You Have To Have A Subscription For It. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
11. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Motorola Solutions, Inc, In The Amount Of $3,522.40 For The Purchase Of Three Body Cameras And A Transfer Station For The West Frankfort Police Department. The Mayor Stated What’s The Transfer Station? Deputy Police Chief Willis Stated That Is What, When You Take The Body Camera Off, You Have To Set It In And It Charges, And It Downloads. Unfortunately, The Other Ones Were Full. So, When We Added Three More, We Had To Buy Another Transfer Station. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
12. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Bulk Tire And Repair Solutions In The Amount Of $3,766.00 For The Repairs Made On The 2001 Ford F-450 Super Duty Bucket Truck For The Street Department. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
13. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice To Greater Egypt In The Amount Of $6,104.60, Invoice # 5, For Reimbursement On The Stormwater Grant Using Funds Received From Delta Regional Authority. The Mayor Stated This Is Not Our Money. We’re Just Handling It, Giving It From Delta Regional To Greater Egypt. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
14. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Greater Egypt Regional Planning And Development Commission In The Amount Of $12,000.00 For Invoice # 4, For The Big Muddy Watershed And Narp Contract. The Mayor Stated Now, I Believe This Is Our Money, Correct, Keith? Or Is This Coming From Somewhere Else? Matt Tosh With Brown & Roberts Stated, This Was An Agreement That Was Entered In Several Years Ago. It’s An Iepa Requirement For Your Sewage Treatment Plant One The Conditions, Yes. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried. Commissioner Howard Stated That Will Be Paid From The Sewer Fund
15. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Cirma In The Amount Of $456,327.00 For The Municipality’s Insurance Coverage, December 1, 2025 To 2026, Policy Term For The City Of West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated As Much As That Is, That Is A Necessary Thing. You’ve Got To Have Insurance. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried
16. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice # 6 From Lochmueller Group In The Amount Of $37,766.86 For Phase 2 Engineering Services For Section 18-00061-00-Es, The Interstate 57, Illinois 149 Interchange Modification. Commissioner Howard Stated Again, I Want To Ask, That’s 80% Out Of That Build Illinois And 20% Out Of That Tif, Right? Mr. Tosh Stated Yeah, I Think That’s What The City Did. It Is 80% Grant And 20% Is The City. The Mayor Stated We Did Agree To Use Tif For That, Yes. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried
17. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice # 7 From Lochmueller Group In The Amount Of $44,769.90 For Phase 2 Engineering Services For Section 18-00061-00-Es, 157-Il – 149 Interchange Modification. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried
18. The Next Item Was The Approval Of Change Order # 4, Final For The West Frankfort Stp Effluent Disinfection. The Mayor Stated This Closes That Project, Correct? Mr. Tosh Stated This Is Part Of The Final Paperwork To Adjust Contract Time And Also Adjust The Contract Price To The Final Amount. This Deals With, On The Contract Time, There Was Discussion Of Liquidated Damages Or Potential Not Completing The Project On Time Per The Contract Document. I Think The Discussion Of That And The Consensus Is The Amount And The Potential Fight Or Legal Fight For That Was Not Worth The Battle. The City Is Also Getting Questioned By One Of The Funding Agencies, Which Is Dco, About Needing To Get This Project Wrapped Up And Wanting To Establish A Final Contract Amount. This Is Going To Extend The Contract Time To The Actual Dates. It Does Reduce The Total Contract By $16,508.18. The City Is Finishing The Project Under Budget.
Commissioner Howard Stated Again, This Comes Out Of The Sewer Utility. Mr. Tosh Stated This Change Order Is Just Kind Of A Paperwork. The Next Item Is The Money. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried
19. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Contractor’s Estimate #8 Final In The Amount Of $112,791.33 To Hayer Plumbing And Heating For The West Frankfort Stp Of Flow And Disinfection. The Mayor Stated So Now This Is What You Were Saying, Keith. Mr. Tosh Stated There’s Two Funding Sources And This Is Going To Be The Iepa Portion. Although Dco Is Wanting The City To Issue A Check Out Of Their Funds And Then The Reimbursement Will Be Received In 30 To 45 Days. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried
20. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Construction Engineering Bill #7 In The Amount Of $1,030.00 From Brown & Roberts For The West Frankfort Stp Effluent Disinfection. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried
21.The Next Item Was Approval Of Midwest Petroleum And Excavating Invoice In The Amount Of $8,000.00 For Repairs To The Stp Grit Classifier. The Mayor Stated If I’m Reading That Right, It Was A Bearing Replacement? Mr. Tosh Stated That Is Correct. There Was An Estimate Provided A Few Meetings Back About This. And The Work Has Been Completed And Is Off Of It. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried
22. The Next Item Was The Consent Agenda:
A. Approval To Pay Bills.
Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried
23. Building And Sign Permits ~ Code Officer Snell Stated The First One Is For A Solar Permit For Robert Tango At 305 S. Grand. Roof Mount Residential Project. Contractor Is Sunsent Solar They Are Registered. I Have Calculations And Everything I Need From The Engineer. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
The Next Permit Was For A Solar Permit For Blaine Malcolm At 515 N. Horrell For Ground Mount Residential. It Meets All Of Our Requirements; I Have Everything I Need. Contractor Is Registered, Ewd Energy Solutions, Llc. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
The Next Permit Was A Residential Accessory Permit For A Small Shed Going On A Lot On 204 S Horn St. For Ida Broski. I Have Everything I Need. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
The Next Permit Was For A Commerical Building For The Training Facility For The Electricians Union. They Are Adding A Large Structure, It Is An Addition To What They Already Have. 10,275 Square Feet. River City Is The Contractor They Are Regisitered. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
The Next Permit Was For A Fence Permit For Andrea Hartwell At 404 N. Cherry St. Shawn Mills Is The Contractor. I Have Everything I Need I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
24. Officer’s Report ~ Fire Report For The Month Of December 2025. Chief Sailliez Reported That They Had 166-Ambulance Calls, 1- Rubbish/Illegal Fires, 5-Brush/Field Fires, 10-Fire Alarms, 2- Vehicle Fires, 8 – Fire Emergencies; (Gas Leaks, Power Lines Down, Etc.), 5- Structure Fires, 2-Mutual Aid Fire Responses, 9-Ambulance Calls Turned Over To Mutual Aid. For A Total Of 208 Calls During The Month. The Department Used Approximately 25,000 Gallons Of Water. The Department Collected $101,859.25 For December Ambulance Calls.
Fire Report For The Year Of 2025: 2185-Ambulance Calls, 25- Brush/Field Fires, 64- Illegal Burns, 31-Motor Vehicle Accidents, 57-Fire Alarms, 13-Vehicle Fires, 100- Fire Emergencies; (Gas Leaks, Power Lines Down, Etc.), 31- Structure Fires, 41-Mutual Aid Fire Responses, For A Total Of 2,547 Calls During The Year Of 2025. The Department Collected $913,124.97 For The Year Of 2025. Commissioner Howard Asked Does That Count The Half We Have To Give Back? Chief Saillez Stated That Is Gross But We Only Had To Pay Back Around $205,000.00.
Police Report For The Month Of December 2025. Deputy Chief Willis Reported Officers Answered A Total Of 629 Calls For Service. Of Those Calls 22 Were Traffic Accidents, 7 With Injuries. Officers Responded To 38 Domestic Disputes, 3 Fights In Progress, 27 Alarms, 1 Intoxicated Persons, 8 Burglaries, 5 Reports Of Criminal Damage To Property, 13 Complaints Of Juvenile Problems, 32 Reported Thefts, And 29 Complaints Of Disorderly Conduct/Disturbances. And Officers Made 18 Street Contacts. Officers Conducted 178 Traffic Stops, Where They Issued 49 Citiations, 136 Warnings, And 7 Lw-27’s. There Were 74 Adult Arrests Made And 3 Juvenile Arrest, Resulting In 131 Criminal Charges Filed. Dispatchers Answered 885 Calls. Of Those, 558 Were 9-1-1 Calls, 142 Were Walk In Requests. 629 Were For Police, 220 Were For West Frankfort Fire, For The Month Of December, We Collected $2,562.31 In Fines And Fees.
Police Report For The Year Of 2025: Officers Answered A Total Of 14,080 Calls For Service, Officersconducted A Total Of 2,130 Traffic Stops, Where They Issued 561 Total Citations, There Were A Total Of 814 Arrests. Resulting In 1,254 Criminal Charges Filed. For The Year Of 2025 We Collected $39,998.60 In Fines And Fees.
Codes Report For The Month Of December 2025: 0 – New Nuisance Cases Started, 6- Codes Citations Issued, 2-Rental Inspections Performed, 2-New Rentals Registered, 1- Building Permit Approved, 3-Building/Zoning Plan Reviews Performed, 3- Building Permit Inspections Performed, Total Fees Collected – $400.00
Street Department Report For The Month Of December 2025: Removed Christmas Decorations, Patched Potholes On Various City Streets, Cleaned Road Side And Drainage Ditches, Rocked Alleys To Improve Driving Conditions, Poured Concrete, Trimmed Trees Along Streets And Alleys, Straightened And Adjusted Traffic Signs, Picked Up Debris, Preformed Routine Maintenance And Repairs On Department Equipment. The Guys Have Been Busy And Done A Great Job. I Am Proid Of Them.
Water Department Report For The Month Of Decemebr 2025: 3 Repairs- 33⁄4” Service At 306 W. Chestnut, 1” Service At Old Marion Rd & Rains Rd, Replaced Leaking Setter 1939 Everett St. 53 Julie Locates, 14 Of Those Were Emergengies. We Collected 174 Samples For The Month- 62 Chlorine, 95 Nap, 10 Bacteria, 7 School Lead Samples. 24 Connects, 30 Disconnects, 25 Reconnects, 26 Meter Change Outs, 191 Meter Checks, 9 Transfers. We Purchased 18,563,365 Gallons, West Frankfort Customers Used 14,116,300, Orient- 593,200, Plumfield- 721,100, Sewer Plant-20,100, Fire Department- 25,000. We Collected $102,841.52 For Water, $79,568.26 For Sewer, $44,891.10 For Sanitation, Several Other Items For A Total Of $239,235.84
Sewer Department Report For The Month Of Decemeber 2025: Conducted Normal Operations, Responded To Several Service Needs, 53 Julies, 14 Of Those Were Emergencies, 72 Samples Were Collected And Tested In Accordance With The Epa Requiremetns, 2 Demolition Inspections To Ensure Proper Sewer Disconnections And Compliance. 7 Customer Requests Were Addressed, Along With 3 Sewer Realted Service Calls No Issues Were Found On The City Sewer Main While Doing These Calls. We Collected $79,568.26.
25. Mayors Report~
The Mayor Stated I Did Ask For Our Department Heads To Put Together A Summary For 2025 Reconition For Our Employees’ Accomplishments. Police Department-Deputy Police Chief Willis I Marked Down Some Bigger Cases That Happened Throughout The Year. The Guys Worked Great All Year And Work Together. January 2, 2025 Detective Waters Was Able To Track Down An Arrest – Juveniles That Had Racked Up Almost 25 Burglaries In Vehicles, And Stolen Vehicles Themselves Within Our Town. Through A Lot Of Man Hours, He Was Able To Track Them Down And Get Them Housed. February 8, 2025
Tristian Willis Recovered Stolen Fire Arms And Had A Charge Of Unlawful Possession Of Weapon By Fellon That Lead Into A Pursuit. February 13, 2025 Daktoa Josten Recovered 82 Grams Of Cannabis Off Of A Traffic Stop, February 15, 2025 Trent Willis Recovered 5 Counts Of Motor Vehicle Burglary, And Also Confiscated 2 Weapons In Possession By A Fellon. March 13, 2025 Derick Jordan, During Traffic Stop Recovered 36.1 Grams Of Meth And 18 Fentanyl Caps, They Were Charged With Meth Delivery. March 17, 2025 Officer Waters Recovered Over $10,000.00 In Stolen Property That Was Stolen From One Of Our Local Businesses. April 2, 2025 Tristian Willis, During Traffic Stop Recovered 21.5 Grams Of Meth, May 18, 2025 Tristian Willis, During Traffic Stop Brought In $3,775.00 Cash In Over 2 Grams Of Meth, Which Turned Into A Pursuit. June 30, 2025, Trent Recovered 19.5 Grams Of Meth And 17.39 Grams Of Cannabis During A Traffic Stop. June 6, 2025, Tristain Willis Recovered Weapons Possession By A Fellon, And Over 2 Grams Of Meth In A Traffic Stop. December 27,2025 Josh Mixon Recovered A Stolen Fire Arm, And Made Charges Of Meth Delivery. Also Officer Mixon Was Recently Awarded/Reconized By Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorist. They Presented Him With A Certificate And A Pin For 10 Plus Dui’s Within A Year.
Fire Department- I Have Two Calls Of Recognition I Would Like To Point Out Tonight. The First One Is For Diane Presely, On January 15, 2024 She Went Unresponsive In Her Bathroom. The Two Guys That Are With Her Reconized She Was In Trouble, Called 911 Initiated Cpr And Rescue Breathing By Their On Forehand And By Direction Of The Telecommunicator That Was On Duty. Whenever We Responded We Were At A Class At The Firehouse, So We Had A Couple Extra Hands Around. I Would Like To Call Up A Couple Guys That Was On The Call. Captain Jon Horrel, In The Time Of The Call He Reconized That She Was Pulsless And Apneic, We Continued Cpr And Intubated Her And Had To Defibrilate Her Three Times While We Were On Scene. Firefighter Jon Alexander, Paramedic Lucas Lingle, And Paramedic Warren Smothers. Without There Response And Actions At The House. I Don’t Think We Would Have The Same Outcome. Good Job Guys.
The Next Call Was April 6, 2025, The Guys Were At The Station Doing Some Work. There Was A Vehicle That Pulled Up On The Ramp Honking The Horn Yelling For Help Inside Was A Passenger Who Was Unresponsive. He Became Unresponsive While Leaving Their House So She Drove To The Firehouse She Didn’t Think She Had Enough Time To Call 911. When She Pulled Up Yelling For Help, We Ran Outside To See Mr. David Rich Was Unresponive In The Passenger Seat. With Quick Actions Cpr Was Started, Put Him On A Cot Into The Ambulance. Three Manual Defibulations By The Paramedics On Scene Which Had A Drastic Outcome With Mr. Rich Being With Us Here Today. Paramedic Tim Mcguire, Firefighter/Paramedic Jon Murphy, Firefighter/ Paramedic Corey Rasmussen, Firefighter Paramedic Warren Smothers.
Mr. Rich Thanked Everyone That Took Care Of Him.
Stree Department: Mr. Bonner Stated A Lot Of People Know We Have Six Employees That Cover A Lot Of This Town. We Had A Lot Of Movement Within Our Department With Retirements And With People Switching And Moving Up. We Have A Lot Of New People. I Just Commend All Of Them For Learning, Paying Attention And Being Swift To React To Different Situations. Water Department: Mr. Gass Stated I Want To Reccoginized
The Whole Department, The Guys Do Not Turn Down Calls, And Shows Up On Their Days Off When We Have Major Breaks. The Girls Up Here Do An Awesome Job Holding Down Behind The Sences. They Go Through A Lot Up Here. I Just Want To Congradulate Everybody For All They Do For Their Departments.
Sewer Department: Mr. Sirena Stated Same Thing With The Sewer Guys, They Are Keeping Up And Still Going. They Are Doing A Good Job. We Have Two Guys, Hopefully Soon To Have Three. I Am Proud Of Them.
The Mayor Stated I Did Want To Recognize You Michael, For Steping Up For The Sewer Department. This Year Wasn’t Easy We Went Through A Lot Of Bumps And Curves Along
The Way. I Appreciate All Of You, You All Have Stepped Up. I Wanted To Start 2026 On A Positive Note. These Guys Catch A Lot Of Flack, I Even Want To Recognize What We All Our Executive Team, The City Hall, Andrea, Alexa, Thad, Jessica, All Of Them. They All Work Hard, Come And Do Their Job. You Think It’s An Easy Office Job, But There Is A Lot More To It Than That. There Is A Lot Of Negotiation, Handling Situations Descalating People Coming In Because Their Water Got Shut Off Or Whatever It Might Be. All Of Our City Workers Work Hard. I Just Want To Recognize That. You All Hear A Lot Of The Negative, And Not A Lot Of The Positive.
Commissioner Reports~
Commissioner Harkins Stated I Am Very Proud To Be Apart Of The Fire And Police Department. They Do A Good Job Here.
Commissioner Howard Stated As Far As We Know, Based On What The Auditors Are Telling Us, We Are Still On Time With Getting 2024 Done By The End Of The Month. Then We Will Start On 2025. I Just Want To Reiterate, I Work With The People Inside This Building On A Daily Basis, I Just Want To Say They Are Vitial To The Operation Of The City And Do A Good Job. They Do What They Need To Do To Help People. I Am Proud Of Them.
Commissioner Stanley Stated You Guys Heard What My Departments Are Doing. I Am Proud Of Everyone Of Them; They Get Along Great. Everyone Does A Great Job Here.
Commissioner Warren Stated I Am Public Property, And Don Gass Is A Great Guy. I Want To Thank The City; We Have A Great Town. I Like The Positive News. I Want To Thank Everybody; They Have Came And Helped Me With My Issues Several Times. I Just Want To Remind You February 10, 2025 Meeting Is The Meeting If You Want To Bid On The Old Lake.
The City Attorney Report: We Will Have Some Discussion In Closed Session. As The City Attorney, I Am Not A Full Time Employee For The Publics Benefit. But I Do Work With Several Of The Members Of The Executive Team, And The Commissioners From Time To Time. I Also Feel Like The City Of West Frankfort Has A Great Team From Top To Bottom. It Is
A Pleasure Being Apart Of, And Working With You Guys.
Audience Comments:
Danny Loeh Stated I Am The Vice Curator Of The Millitary
Museum Here In Town. I Had A Christmas Card Collection; I Was Able To Collect 457 Cards From Students From The School Districts Here And In Thompsonville. I Was Able To Take Donations Of Socks, Underwear, Tshirts To Help The Veterans. They Service 100,000 Troops A Year There. If You Guys Would Help Me, Get Signs, Put Up On The Interstate, Of
The Millitary Museum. They Would Help Out And Bring More People In.
26. The Next Item Was Approval To Go Into Executive Session
For Discussions Pursuant To 5 Ilcs 120/2 (C) (1), 5 Ilcs 120/2 (C) (5), 5 Ilcs 120/2 (C) (6), 5 Ilcs 120/2 (C) (11) Opioid Litigation, (Personnel, Real Estate, Litigation). We Do Have Another Item After We Come Back From Executive Session. At 7:10 P.M. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
27. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Motion To Return To Open Session At 8:15 P.M. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
28. Discussion And Possibly Approval Of Modifying The Terms Of Employment For Personnel. The Mayor Stated We Discussed This In Executive Session, Jonathan Do You Want To Word The Motion For Us. The City Attorney Stated, Based On Our Discussions In Executive Session, My Recommendation Is That A Commissioner Make A Motion Instructing The City Attorney To Draft A Three-Year Contract Of Employment With The Codes Officer With The Terms Discussed In Executive Session. Commissioner
Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
29. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 8:16 P.M.
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